FUTURE FARMERS: Students harvest 17 acres

By Levi Wainwright
   If hands-on experience is the best teacher, the students in the Northern Burlington Agriculture program learn a great deal through the Crop Demonstration program supervised by Mike Hlubik and Bill Hilgendorff. These ag teachers, along with local agribusinessmen, supervise interested students in the choice, planning, planting, care, and harvesting.
   The 17-acre crop demonstration field, located between the high school athletic fields and Route 68, was planted with soybeans for the 2008 season. In the program students are supervised through the stages of planning, planting, harvesting, and sale of the crop by a team of adults. The seed was supplied by Don Longstreet of Pioneer Seed; fertilizer and other necessary sprays were provided by Steve Miller of Growmark FS. The beans were transported for storage by Curtis Wainwright.
   The crop was harvested by junior Levi Wainwright in November. The total harvest of 520 bushels, or 31,200 pounds of soybeans, are stored at a Perdue grainary as students watch the commodities market for the best time to sell.